KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's opposition veteran Lim Kit Siang has said that Attorney-General Gani Patail will be "given opportunity" to charge former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad for sedition and criminal defamation over comments made in his blog recently.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) stalwart said that former DAP MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng had lodged a police report against Dr Mahathir for the comments made on his blog on April 11, where he had alleged that Mr Lim Kit Siang's victory in Gelang Patah would result in a race confrontation between the Malays and the Chinese.

Since a police report has been lodged, Mr Lim Kit Siang said he would give the AG an opportunity to take action against Dr Mahathir before instructing his legal team to take further action regarding the allegations made by Dr Mahathir, Malaysiakini reported.

"I will give Attorney-General Gani Patail the opportunity to arrest and charge Mahathir for sedition and criminal defamation before I instruct my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Mahathir," the DAP veteran said in a statement issued on Sunday.

He added he had given the former prime minister two warnings for making irresponsible and baseless attacks on his reputation and character on his chauvinistic and seditious blog.

However Dr Mahathir had remained "unrepentant and unmoved".

Last Thursday, Dr Mahathir wrote in a post titled "Gelang Patah" on his chedet.cc blog that Mr Lim is going to "bring about conflict and antagonism between the races, to wage the Chinese to dislike and hate the Malays".

"When Kit Siang decided to contest in Chinese majority Gelang Patah it is because he wanted the Chinese there and in Johor to reject working together and sharing with the Malays," Dr Mahathir wrote.

Dr Mahathir has been training his guns on Mr Lim ever since the latter announced his decision to contest in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, as he spearheads a Pakatan Rakyat foray into Umno's bastion in Johor.

Previously, Mr Lim had challenged the former premier, who stepped down 10 years ago, to contest in Gelang Patah.

This was following Dr Mahathir's speech on March 31 in Johor Baru where he had urged the people of Johor to end Mr Lim's political career in Gelang Patah.

Dr Mahathir, 87, turned down the invite, emphasising that he had retired from politics, and urged Mr Lim, 72, to do the same.